The Associated Press
Two women were arrested after they chained themselves to the front doors of a Catholic diocese building to protest the authorized killing of deer on church property.
“We’re appealing to members of the diocese who respect God’s teachings of love and compassion of all creatures to halt the inhumane deer killing,” Deirdre Guelke, a Hunter College student from Queens, said in a statement before her arrest.
Guelke and Therese Ferreira chained themselves to the entrance of the Diocese of Rockville Centre offices to protest the deer cull at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception and in Caumsett State Historic Park.
A marksman with a shotgun has been hunting the deer because of an increase in the number of car accidents and near misses with the animals on local roads. The deer meat has been used to stock a food pantry.
The two women were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after authorities cut them loose, police spokesman Jeff Kluewer said. Ferreira was released Monday evening from the Rockville Centre police station. Guelke was expected to be freed later Monday.